Baku

Azerbaijan

November 3, 2012

Sunny and Mild 

Dear Friends and Lovers of the Sea,

Joy!  Unrestrained joy!

Joy!  Unexpected, giddy joy!  

I am filled with joy as I walk alongside the Caspian Sea. 

Who can explain it?

The Caspian Sea.  So exotic.  So distant.  So inaccessible. Yet, here I am.

Across the sea to the east lies the brooding Turkmenistan and enormous Kazakhstan. To the north looms Mother Russia.  To the south, the impenetrable Islamic Republic of Iran.  But here, as I gaze on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, I don’t know why, but I am so happy to be here.